Starting Over With Seven
by nopricebabe
Summary: Takes place after Hot Six. Steph and Morelli are done, Vinnie is FTA, and you never know what's going to happen to Steph's poor car. Originally published many years ago on JE's website. I'm dusting off my writing boots, cleaning it up, and posting it here
1. Chapter 1

**Starting Over With Seven** **Chapter 1**

"About that proposal Cupcake..."

"Hold it right there," I said, sticking my hand out to the chest of the proposer, also known as Joe Morelli, a Trenton cop and the man with whom I have an on-again-off-again relationship. "Didn't you just hear me? I don't want to get married now! I don't think I can handle that!"

"Who said it would be now, Steph?" he asked, stopping the work he was starting on my pants, and looking at me.

"Well, judging by what you just said..." I let that hang in the air for a minute and gauged his reaction. I was totally confused.

He blew out a sigh. "I knew you would take it like that."

"Like what?"

"Like that, Stephanie! _Seriously_!"

I could tell he was getting frustrated, but hell, so was I. I narrowed my eyes at him. "You weren't serious then?"

"Look, Cupcake, we've been though this. I really just can't get married right now. It's just about impossible to have this job and be married, too. You know that. Besides- didn't you just say that you don't want to get married now? What's the big deal? You know we'll end up together someday."

"_You're_ the big deal, Morelli. You come waltzing in my life throwing around promises that you can't and won't keep. I'm over it!" I yelled at him. "I'm sorry, Joe, but I just need to get out of here."

With that, I grabbed my jacket and hustled out the front door, conveniently forgetting that I had no car to drive myself home. Great, just great.

I could hear Morelli calling my name from his house but I kept walking. The temptation to put my hands over my ears and sing _la, la, la, la, la _was strong, but I resisted.

I wasn't too far from my apartment, and I could use the exercise. While I walked home I thought about what had happened back at Morelli's. True, I didn't want to get married right now. I had traveled down that road before and it just seemed to lead straight into...well, we won't go there.

From Morelli, my thoughts turned to Ranger, my sort-of partner and maybe a little more. Hmm...well I better not go there right now either. Wouldn't want to overload my brain.

* * *

Thank God for Dillon's master key. I waved him off with the promise of a pizza and beer night in the near future. Stomping in the kitchen, I glared balefully at my blinking answering machine. _Blink. Blink. Blink._

The first message was from my mother, of course. "Stephanie? Stephanie? I was calling to see how you were feeling and if you wanted to have dinner with us tomorrow night. We're having pot-roast and mashed potatoes." A pause. "And we're also having cream puffs for dessert. Bring your boyfriend with you." Click.

I rolled my eyes. I honestly loved my mother, but sometimes she could just be too much. The second message was from Ranger. "Call me. I have a business proposition for you." Intriguing. Also, must more appealing than my mother.

My last message was from Connie. She wanted me to call her about "an interesting case" she had. The barely contained glee in her voice made me a little suspicious. Usually I had to go to the office to get my cases, and now they were calling me. Either I was getting to be an exceptional bounty hunter (snort) or this was a really weird case that no one else was taking. I was voting for the latter.

I walked in the living room and flopped on the couch, deciding to watch tv from lack of anything better to do. Bob and Rex were still at Morelli's. I had sort of forgotten about them when I left, but what the heck. Bob can eat Morelli's toilet paper instead of mine. Serves him right.

_Aw, hell._ I realized when I woke up the next morning that I was still on my couch with the sun streaming through my living room window and the tv blaring. I was mid-stretch and mid-grumble when I heard a soft sound at my front door.

"Yo."

"Yo yourself," I replied, sitting up on the couch. Damn, if Ranger didn't look good. He was wearing his usual tight black t-shirt and black cargo pants tucked into his boots. His newly shortened hair shone in the light from my window.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Huh?" I was too busy staring at his perfect body to pay attention to what he was saying.

His eyes crinkled and his voice had a ripple of laughter in it. "Your arm, Babe."

_Duh. _"Oh...yeah. It's not too bad. Is that why you're here?"

"Nope. I came to talk business. You get my message?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I fell asleep before I could call you back, though. I had an eventful night."

His face remained expressionless, but I could see the concern in his eyes. "Yeah, I heard about you and Morelli. You okay?"

I rolled my eyes. Gossip in the Burg flew faster than the speed of light. That also meant that my mother knew. Shit.

"That's the weird thing," I told him. "I'm not upset for some reason." There was a comfortable pause while we both considered the implications.

After a few beats, Ranger broke the silence. "Have you talked to Connie yet?"

"How did you know that I'm supposed to talk to Connie?" I remembered my cryptic message from last night, getting a little worried about this supposedly "interesting" case now. Also, I was starting to wonder why Ranger was in such a good mood.

"The case Connie has for you is gonna be something that we need to work on together. And besides, you should enjoy it," he replied with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Go see Connie. Then we'll talk."

I huffed out a sigh. My mind was whirling a million miles an hour as I got up and headed to the kitchen to scrounge up something to eat for breakfast.

"I was planning on going by the office this morning," I called over my shoulder to him.

"Good," he replied, as he walked in the kitchen.

I straightened up from the empty refrigerator (of course) when I heard him behind me, turning around to find myself staring at his sculpted chest. _Hmm_. As nice as his chest was, I would rather look at something else that belonged to him.

Unh! Mental head slap. What is the matter with me these days? I have an excess of Hungarian hormones. Way too many.

I raised my eyes from his chest to his face and looked at him square in the eyes. He took my face in is hands and kissed me. _Yowza. _It started off sweet and tender but soon became hot and heavy. My hands hung limply by my sides in shock.

When Ranger removed his mouth from mine, his eyes were dilated and he was breathing a little heavier than usual. I was downright panting. Maybe having too many hormones isn't so bad. They can always be put to good use, right?

He smiled. "See you at the office, Babe."

And then he was gone. Poof! That's why he's Batman and I'm…nevermind.

Since the day started without me, I blasted through my shower at top speed. After the hair and make-up thing, I dressed in my usual jeans and t-shirt, slapping on a brown belt to make myself feel dressy.

I waltzed out the door of my apartment and down to the parking lot. I briefly stopped and gave Big Blue a piercing glare with my death ray, but alas. No dice.

_Stand back world_, I thought to myself. I am Stephanie Plum, woman in charge, equipped with deadly death rays that may or may not be functional. Slipping on my sunglasses, I turned up the radio and motored out of the lot.

"Shee-it girlfriend. Why you in such a good mood? I thought you'd be downright pissy today cause of your fight with Morelli and all last night."

This comment came from Lula, the 200 plus pound file clerk that also worked for Vinnie. Lula likes to ride shotgun with me on some of my FTAs, too. Today she was in zebra print spandex shorts that were two sizes too small and a hot pink top. Yikes.

Connie nodded and briefly looked up from painting her fingernails blood red. "I agree."

Dumping the box of Tasty Pastry doughnuts I brought on Connie's desk, I gave an exaggerated Jersey eye roll. "Good morning to you guys, too."

"So? Is it true?" Lula asked. "We wanna hear the scoop, girl."

"Yes, it's true. We fought, I left. Same old crap," I said. They started at me with raised eyebrows, silently demanding more information.

"I'm starting over," I stated, looking at them. "I decided that I can't deal with Morelli anymore. He's always putting his job before me and he's not very supportive of what I do, so I'm going to make a clean start. What do you guys think?"

Lula gave an enthusiastic nod. "Good idea. Cause I know just the man that you can start over with. And he's about to walk right through that door."

We all swiveled our heads around to the door to watch Ranger enter the office. He gave us all a nod and turned to Connie. "You give it to her yet?"

"I could ask the same thing of you," I heard Lula mutter.

_What?_ My eyes bugged out of my head in shock, and I thanked my lucky stars that Ranger didn't seem to have heard Lula's comment.

Connie shook her head, grinning. "Nope. I was just about to."

"Give me what?" I asked suspiciously.

Now Lula was grinning, too. "Yeah, give it to her Connie."

Ranger picked up a file off Connie's desk and handed it to me, and everyone watched as I opened it.

"This here's gonna be good," Lula said.

I opened the thin file and looked inside. Skimming over the physical description of the FTA, I looked at the skip's name. When I did, I busted out laughing. The file said, _"Bond posted by Vincent Plum Bail Bonds for Vincent Plum, charged with public indecency and solicitation of a prostitute in downtown Trenton."_

I was going after my cousin Vinnie, and oh man, this was gonna be good.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Ranger and I left the office a short while later. I was feeling fancy with my new attitude, and Ranger was feeling, well, Ranger. He's always fancy…in a badass kind of way. Ranger's car of choice for the day was a BMW 850 Ci. Black, sleek, and _yum_.

"So what's the plan?" I asked Ranger as I slid into the car's buttery leather seats.

Ranger caught my look of envy as I got in and grinned at me. "You looking for new transportation, Babe?"

I rolled my eyes. "Look what I drive. I'm always looking for new transportation."

Ranger slid his eyes my way as he cranked the engine over. "I've got a car ready and waiting for you whenever you'll take it."

_Say what?_ What's that supposed to mean? And an even bigger question, what did I have to do to get the car? Mary Lou is convinced that when Ranger gives me a car I at least owe him butt stuff. I don't disagree with her, but I don't do that butt stuff, so I'm a little wary of taking another car from him. Not to mention his cars are never in...uhh...prime condition, when I'm done with them. Not that it's my fault, but these things just happen.

I looked up in surprise when the car stopped and I saw that we were at Big Jim's.

Ranger smiled. "Figured we'd get an early lunch since you're so hungry."

Good grief. Add stomach-reading powers to his already existing special mind-reading powers. How does he do that anyway? Forget Batman, he's like the ESP Man. You know there's ESPN- Ranger will be ESPM. I chuckled at my play on letters.

"Babe?" Ranger quirked an eyebrow at me, no doubt wondering why I'm laughing to myself.

"Nuh uh," I smiled, getting out of the car. "You figure it out."

It turned out that a few other people had the same idea about an early lunch of ribs and greens at Big Jim's as we did. One of those other people was Joe Morelli. Shit. His eyes narrowed to slits and he stared at us as we walked in. I saw him watching me in the mirror over the bar as Ranger and I got a table and placed our orders. Call me crazy, but I was feeling a teensy bit uncomfortable here.

Ranger turned to me and quirked an eyebrow. "You okay with this, Babe? We can go somewhere else."

I shook my head and sighed. "No, I need to get used to this. We do live in the Burg, after all."

When I was just about done scarfing down my lunch I saw Morelli get up to leave. He paid his bill, turned around, and we locked eyes for what seemed like hours. He nodded his head once and walked out. Gee, that was productive. At least it didn't involve yelling or arm whirling.

* * *

Later that afternoon we came to the end of our to-do list on Vinnie and had drawn a great big zero. I'm willing to bet our "to-do" list wasn't nearly as long as Vinnie's, which is probably why we couldn't find him. Blech.

I was tired and heading towards the cranky side, but Ranger seemed undaunted. In fact, he was in his zone, and I was left with just myself to converse with. I mentally reviewed what we had done during the day. We had tried all the regular spots. Vinnie's house, his parent's house, his favorite bar, and his favorite strip club (you know Vinnie). His wife, Lucille, and everyone else claimed that they hadn't seen him since Sunday. It was Tuesday now and his court appointment had been on Monday. He could be anywhere. He could be in Cancun for all I knew. To be totally honest, that was possible since I didn't know very much about this Vinnie situation, anyway. I got that Connie had been the one to write his bond, but why would he skip on himself?

When we came to a red light, Ranger turned to me. "Well, Babe, any other ideas?" Sure, I had other ideas. Just nothing that would help us with Vinnie. The corners of his mouthed tipped up, and I knew he was tuned in to ESPM.

I was about to say no, but then thought of the obvious. _Duh_, Stephanie. When you run out of clues and ideas in the Burg, where do you always ask?

"Turn here," I instructed.

* * *

Like always, my mother and my Grandma Mazur were standing at the screen door, hands clasped together, when Ranger and I drove up. I knew that Grandma Mazur had had an appointment at Clara's this morning to get her hair done, so I also knew that Grandma would be full to the top with all the latest gossip and dirty news on everyone from the Burg.

"Let me guess," Grandma Mazur said as we walked through the door. "This is a case, right? Oh, boy. Who are you two trying to find now? Is it that no good cousin of yours?"

"You shouldn't be looking for anyone, Stephanie," my mother admonished. "You know, I heard there is an opening at Macy's for a shoe department worker. You ought to hurry and put in an application."

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I am looking for Vinnie and I'm not going to get a job at Macy's." I looked back at Ranger but he was just standing there grinning that 200 watt smile of his. Hmm...I wonder if ESPM could tell that I was about to sock him one in the stomach? Probably so. Damn.

* * *

After grilling Grandma Mazur for a while on what exactly she heard while at Clara's, Ranger and I escaped my parents house. I left there with very little new knowledge about Vinnie, but I did find out that Joyce Barnhardt tripped and fell on a lipstick tube that was on the floor behind the Macy's make-up counter where she works and broke her arm. Gosh, what a shame.

A few minutes later Ranger pulled into my lot and parked the car. He'd killed the engine, but continued to sit in his zone.

"Ranger? Something the matter?"

Silence.

"Something you want to tell me? Want to share any thoughts?"

Still silence. Okay, this was beginning to get annoying. What did he do, slip into a coma in my parking lot?

I shrugged and started to slide from the car. "Okay, well, see ya."

Once out, I leaned in the open window for one last peek and Ranger in all his stillness. He finally looked at me, but I could tell that his thoughts were still a far-away. I could feel my heart flip-flopping in my chest. What was the deal here?

"Aren't you gonna say something?" I asked.

When he spoke, it was so quiet I almost didn't hear him. "Are you really done with Morelli?"

_Whoa_! Back up! Where did _that_ come from? Obviously I don't have his ESP powers because I would have seen that one coming and I certainly didn't. I was thinking more along the lines of sharing thoughts on Vinnie, the weather, last night's Rangers game…but you know, whatever.

I sighed. "Yeah, I'm done with Morelli. Why?"

"Because I want to know what to make of you. And of us."

_Us?_

He looked at me and gave a slight smile. "Yes, us."

Well, hot diggity dog. I smiled, leaned in, and gave him a little kiss on the lips. Sauntering into my building, I gave Ranger a little finger wave as he pulled away.

I met old Mrs. Bestler in the elevator on my way up. "Second floor," she sang out. "Excellent buns and designer dresses."

I was a little confused by the buns comment but chose to ignore it. When I got in my apartment I figured it out, though. As I was standing in front of my door, searching for my keys, my front door opened and I looked into those gorgeous whisky brown eyes.

"Morelli!" I huffed. "What the hell are you doing in my apartment?"

"We need to talk," he said, stepping back to let me pass.

I stomped past him and immediately went to the kitchen to get a beer. "So talk," I growled.

Morelli walked into the kitchen after me and watched me take a gulp of beer. "What's going on with you and Ranger?" he finally asked.

"Not a damn thing. We're looking for a skip. Why does it matter to you?"

"It matters to me because I care about you. You know that, Cupcake."

I sighed. "I do know that, Joe. But I also know that at this point in your life, your job matters to you even more than I do, and I can't keep playing second-string. Not to mention, you're not a big fan of my job, either."

His eyes were sad when he looked at me. "I have to do my job, Steph."

"I know that, but I need more than this never-ending Merry Go Round we're stuck on. We can't give each other what we need; we're too much alike. I need to know what my other options are, what else I can become."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "And what would that be? Dead? Because if you keep working with Ranger that's what you're going to be."

He strode towards the door. I followed him, beer in hand. Before he opened the door to leave he turned to me. His voice was quiet and serious. "This isn't the end of us, Stephanie. You and I both know that. We've been chasing each other for over twenty years." He paused. "You know my number if you need me."

"Bye, Joe," I said as he walked out the door. As I turned around, I realized for the first time that Morelli had brought back Rex and Bob. Bob had been quietly eating all the contents of my bathroom trashcan while Morelli and I were having our discussion. I fed them both, turned on ESPN for Bob, and plopped down on my couch with the portable phone, another beer, and a pad and pen. I desperately needed some information on Vinnie.

* * *

An hour and a half later I finally got off the phone. I had called all the major gossips in the whole Burg grapevine and finally come up with some leads. This was no small feat, considering all the gossips wanted to talk about was my love life.

At any rate, Vinnie must have learned a thing or two from some of his FTAs since he was doing such a good job hiding himself. However, what he hadn't factored in was the all-knowing Burg grapevine. Women in the Burg are great mothers, great housewives, and above all, nosy as hell. I re-read over the notes I had jotted down while on the phone. After a few minutes I decided that it would probably be easier to read and comprehend what all these notes meant if they were in more of a list so I copied them down on another sheet of paper in a more organized way. Ranger would be proud.

One particular piece of information stuck out at me. _Hmm_, I thought. Very interesting, Dr. Watson. I believe we have a winner. Picking up the phone yet again, I made one more call.

"Yo."

I smiled. So predictable. "Yo, yourself. I found out some more information on Vinnie's possible whereabouts. You want to get together and look these over?"

"Sure, Babe. Pino's in 10." Click. Looks like I had a date. I ran in the bathroom for a quick hair and make-up check before grabbing my keys and coat. I called goodbye to Rex and Bob, telling Bob if he made any sort of mess that he would be responsible for cleaning it up. It's only fair.

I made it to Pino's in just over 10 minutes. Ranger, of course, was already there, leaning up against his Beemer with his muscular arms crossed in front of him.

He walked over to my driver's side window and leaned in before I had a chance to even get out of the car. "Hey Babe. There are some people in there that you might not want to see right now."

Oh shit. I had forgotten about the ever-present legions of cops that filled the bar stools at this time of day. I had never needed to worry about that before now. Now that I was on the outs with Morelli, I'd rather avoid the whole scene for right now. Hello, Denial, you old friend. How have you been?

I nodded. "Follow me," he said as he started walking back to his car.

"Where are we going?" I called after his retreating back.

He turned around, giving me his 200 watt grin. "My place."


	3. Chapter 3

_It's occurred to me that I haven't given any kind of disclaimer for this story. It should go without saying that I'm definitely not getting paid for this, and all recognizable characters belong to JE. _

_Also, many, many thanks to those reading and following this story. _

CHAPTER 3

Holy cats! The Batcave! The secret lair! Thoughts were flying through my head as I followed Ranger's Beemer. Every couple of minutes I would catch Ranger looking in his rearview mirror at me. Making sure I hadn't chickened out I guess.

About 10 or 15 minutes later we arrived in a very nice, upscale neighborhood. The houses were big, but not mansion sized, and the yards were perfectly manicured and beautiful. Some of the houses had gates and long driveways with houses set far off the road, while others were set up closer to the road. We pulled up to a big gate at which Ranger typed in a code on the keypad. I also saw him push an automatic opener button in his car. Keeping out the bad guys, I guess. Either that or he has a rabid following of ex-girlfriends he wants to avoid.

We continued on down the driveway and past the beautifully manicured lawn. Ranger pulled his Beemer into one of the many spots in his huge garage. I recognized the Porsche Turbo, an Explorer, and a couple of his other regular vehicles. A car I couldn't quite see was covered with a tarp. I stored that piece of information away in my brain for future use. Ask Ranger about covered up car. Yep. Got it.

I pulled Big Blue up to the garage and clambered out, taking stock of my surroundings. What I saw was daunting. It was a beautiful three-story house with a wide front porch and manicured beds. At this angle, I could see beyond the humongous garage to a beautiful infinity-edged swimming pool in the back. The pool had a slide, which I figured was for when his daughter came to visit him. When I looked back at Ranger I saw that he was grinning and watching me. "Like it?"

I smiled back. "It's beautiful," I said earnestly. While I surreptitiously wiped my chin for drool, Ranger put his hand at the small of my back and guided me up the walkway and into the house.

* * *

A little while later we were sitting in Ranger's kitchen eating some sort of pasta and going over my list. The pasta wasn't exactly the same as a pizza made by Anthony Pino but it really wasn't bad.

Ranger looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "It isn't all that bad, now is it?"

Damn! This ESP thing was really starting to get to me. How did he do it? Can I sign up for a course somewhere?

"No," I replied with a smile. "It's not."

"So what do you think?"

"About what?" I asked.

"Vinnie."

Oh. _That_. I gave a shrug. "We have more information than we did. You have any ideas?"

"A few," he said, watching me. "Not all of them have something to do with Vinnie though." His eyes darkened, and I felt like fanning myself. That man could send a _zing _straight to my doodah without breaking a sweat. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping a few of his ideas would have me singing the Hallelujah Chorus. He got up and took our dishes to the sink, then walked over to me and held out a hand.

"Want the tour?" he asked. I took his hand, rolling my eyes and smiling at him. "Duh. Lula and I have only been trying to find this place for months now."

As he led me through his beautiful house I wondered where exactly the tour would end. Downstairs? His bedroom? The truth is, I wasn't sure where _I_ even wanted it to end. All my hormones were screaming for his bedroom but part of me was also wondering if I should unmask that part of Batman. Well hell, might as well let him decide. After all, I am a single adult.

Meanwhile, I followed Ranger through a maze of halls and floors. The house was extraordinary, with beautiful and expensive furniture and paintings. It was a masculine house, but not overdone. His daughter's room was on the second floor and it was any girl's dream. It had everything I'd ever wanted for my dream bedroom as a child. If the surplus of luxury vehicles outside didn't make the point, his house clearly said that Ranger was in no way hurting for money. I felt a moment of pride for the success of the extraordinary man beside me.

I was snapped from my reverie when we stopped at a closed door. Ranger paused with his hand on the door handle. He turned around, with a hint of a smile in his face. "Ready for this, Babe?"

"Yep." _Gulp_.

He opened the door and it was a huge bedroom. The king-sized bed was a dark, masculine wood with a matching dresser, chest of drawers, and two nightstands. The comforter was a tone-on-tone dark blue stripe, which struck me as unusual for the all-black Ranger that I usually knew. A group of framed pictures rested on one of his nightstands. One of the pictures was of his daughter and him, possibly in Disney World. Another photo was of a large family, which I was guessing was his. There was one more picture...of me. I looked up at him in surprise and raised my eyebrows.

He shrugged. "Grandma Mazur thought I needed a picture of you."

I blushed bright red from embarrassment. _I'm going to kill her! _"When did this happen?"

"Your Grandma decided to slip it into my hand during one of our chance encounters."

"Oh." _Oh?_ This man had a framed picture of me next to his bed and all I said was _oh_? Gee, great answer, Steph.

"Yeah, oh." He smiled, and the next thing I knew he was right in front of me and his mouth was on mine. I was just starting to think that maybe it would be better if we just stayed here in the bedroom after all, when we heard a knock on the front door. We tried to ignore it but the person behind the knocking just wouldn't stop.

"Come on Boss, I know you're there." It was Tank, Ranger's right-hand man. We finally separated ourselves and went to open the door. When Tank saw me his expression immediately went from smiling to shocked as hell. I guess he didn't realize that I was in here with Ranger. Good for him.

"Yo," Ranger said, following some complicated handshake.

"Got some new information for you."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Mario Rodriguez has been spotted." Tank smiled.

Ranger immediately went into work mode. "When and where?"

I stepped forward. Who the hell was Mario Rodriguez? And why did he matter? "Who the hell is Mario Rodriguez?"

Ranger looked at me. "He's FTA. Wanted for multiple murders, rape, carrying concealed. The list goes on."

_Gulp_. How did a guy like that get bail in the first place?

Tank continued, "The Work Place Bar over on Sloane. Last seen 30 minutes ago when he entered the building. I set up a couple guys to watch the building. No one's inside yet."

"How are you gonna get this guy out?" I asked. Even more, why would anyone even _want_ to go after a guy like this?

I could swear that Ranger gave a little sigh. "Actually, I was going to see if you would to help us," Ranger said. I thought I saw the smallest glimmer of amusement in his eyes, waiting for my response.

"_What_? You want me to go after a murdering rapist that carries? Are you two crazy?" I was flipping out. Come on! I could barely handle the FTAs that I got, not to mention Ranger's! I totally didn't understand this man. A minute ago he kisses me like there is no tomorrow and now he wants me to go try to pick up a man like that? Uh-uh. I think not. Negative. Not happening.

Ranger turned to Tank, "We need to talk. Excuse us."

"No problem Boss," Tank said, grinning. He walked off in the direction of the kitchen. I guess you need to constantly keep your body sustained to live up to a name like Tank.

Ranger put his arms around me, drawing me close. "Babe, you should know that I would never send you into a situation where I know you would get hurt. I promise. Do you trust me, Stephanie?"

I thought about my response for a minute before I actually said it. If he was going to be this serious then I guess I did, too.

"I know that, Ranger. I do trust you, with my life, but you know that I can barely handle my FTAs as it is, not to mention yours. For God's sake, look how often I'm covered in garbage." This was mumbled into his shoulder since we were still in our sort-of hugging embrace.

He pulled back so that I could see his face. "Good," he said, smiling. I didn't quite know what was happening here, but I knew it was something. I was having big-time feelings for this man, more feelings for him than I'd had for anyone, including Morelli, in a long time. And he was right. I knew that he wouldn't let me get hurt. I had a feeling that bad things would come to anyone that caused me harm.

I blew out a gusty sigh. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Don't you even want to know what it is you have to do before you accept the job, Babe?"

"I don't need to know. I trust you, remember?" Watching Ranger's face, I saw surprise, pleasure, and desire. Maybe even a little triumph.

"Let's go get Tank before he eats all my food Babe."

It was too late by the time we got to the kitchen. Tank had mowed through just about everything in the kitchen except for the table itself. To my surprise, Ranger just rolled his eyes at Tank and all he said was, "You've got to stop doing that." I found the situation to be weirdly funny and chuckled.

"So, is she gonna do it Boss?"

"She's on."

"Um, hello? Right here," I said, rolling my eyes. "What do I need to do, anyway? Just the regular? Short dress, high heels?"

Ranger's eyes darkened a bit. "Yeah. I've got stuff you can wear here."

Did I want to know why he already had the clothes? Nope, probably not. That question might give me an answer that I'm not quite ready to hear.

"Follow me," Ranger said, walking out of the room.

* * *

Twenty minutes later I was appropriately "dressed." I had on a very short, tight black skirt with a matching black scooped-neck top. My shoes were black FMPs, my hair was fluffy, and my make-up was fresh. Look out world; Stephanie Plum is a woman with a mission. As far as I'm concerned, that mission was to get in there and then get the hell out.

I had never been in the Work Place Bar before, but it was just like any other low-end bar. I glanced around and made eye contact with Lester and Bobby, two of Ranger's men, positioned around the room. Then I spotted Rodriguez. He wasn't handsome but he didn't exactly look like murderer material.

_Okay Steph_, I told myself, _just go over there and do your thing_. So I did. I pulled the old stumble-and-catch-myself-on-the-guy routine and it worked, just like every other time. Men.

"Mario Rodriguez," he said, sticking out his hand.

I took the offered hand. "Stephanie." He held my hand a moment too long in his little rat paws and I almost gagged right there. Ew. Gross. _Yuck_. Note to self: disinfect whole body at first chance I told the bartender to get me whatever Rodriguez was having, which turned out to be some sort of vodka drink. It actually wasn't bad, and it went down pretty smooth. It must not be too strong, I thought to myself as I ordered another one.

I gave Rodriguez the lingerie buyer line while I finished my second drink and I was easily able to convince him to take a little trip outside with me, during which Ranger appeared like the wind and took him in custody. I realized that I might have had one too many drinks when I felt myself slightly swaying on my feet.

Ranger handed Rodriguez to Tank and then come over to me. "You okay, Babe?"

"Just dandy, thanks. And yourself?" Okay, I was definitely drunk. Damn. Who says "dandy?" No one I know. Certainly not me. Ranger was watching me and smiling.

"How many drinks did you have Steph?" I thought for a minute. "Umm...just two," I said with a smile as I leaned against him for support since I was starting to have even more problems keeping myself up.

"Who knows what they were," I heard him mutter. Then he spoke up. "Okay Babe, let's get you home."

"Home?"

"Yeah, home. My home. As in, my bed."

I blinked several times. Oh shit. Ranger's bed. Then I passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

_Standard disclaimer applies. Not mine, no money made, and still waiting for Ranger._

CHAPTER 4

When I came to, it was early the next morning and I was in Ranger's bed. The man himself was asleep beside me. My back was against his chest and his arm was thrown over my body. I could feel his chest gently rise and fall with each breath. It was like being wrapped in a cloud of Bulgari.

I took a quick inventory of myself and realized that I was mostly clothed. _Damn_. On the other hand, at least I didn't miss the good stuff. I was wearing what looked to be one of Ranger's t-shirts and my undies. The next thing I noticed was my horrible headache. In fact, I felt like one big headache. That must have been some drink last night, I thought to myself as I drifted off to sleep again.

The next time I surfaced was several hours later, and I was feeling semi-human again. Judging by the coolness of the sheets, Ranger was long gone. In fact, I couldn't even hear him in the house. I spent a few more minutes rolling around in the luxury of his amazing sheets before deciding to face the day. I found a robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door and put it on. It was navy blue and smelled like Ranger. I then padded out of the bedroom in search of him.

After wandering through the house, I found Ranger in the garage, working on the mystery car. I stopped when I saw the car, my jaw dropping to somewhere around my knees. It was a cherry red Lotus and nothing like I'd seen before. It was sex on wheels.

Ranger looked up and smiled when he heard me approaching. "Like it?"

"It's beautiful!" I replied.

"It's my toy."

I wonder if he would buy me a toy?

"So what's the plan?" I asked, leaning up against the nearest Beemer, and watching him wax the Lotus.

"No plan yet. Thought I'd see what information Tank got for me first." He smiled mischievously, "and how bad your hangover was."

"Boss."

I squeaked like a mouse and spun around. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Speak of the devil. "Christ, Tank! Make a sound, would you?"

Tank smiled at me a little smugly and said, "I thought you of all people would be smart enough to hide away your cars, man, with Bombshell here. Especially that one."

"She can see whatever she wants," Ranger replied, glancing in my direction. Tanks eyebrows shot up to his hairline and I stuck my tongue out at him. Hah. That showed him.

Ranger began walking up to the house. "Come on, children."

* * *

Tank left several hours later. I changed into my clothes from the day before and sat down back at the kitchen table, watching Ranger rummage in his fridge for some lunch for the two of us. I was silently contemplating what my afternoon was going to be like, and it didn't seem like much fun. My checkbook balance could use a little help, that was for sure. Rent and bills would be coming in this week, and I had gotten a little happy with my Macy's charge card last month. Now I had to pay for it. Literally.

"What's the matter?"

I was startled out of my thoughts. "What?"

"You don't look very happy."

I blushed. "Oh. Yeah. Well, I was just thinking about my Macy's bill. I really need to get some FTAs today." Luckily, I have a pile that Vinnie had signed for before he went FTA himself, so I was good to go.

Ranger set a salad in front of me. Blech. "Sounds good. I have some things to do myself."

We ate in silence for a few minutes, each of us concentrating on our own little ideas. Once I was done I cleaned up my dishes and grabbed my purse off the counter.

"I'm off," I said. "Time for work."

Ranger got up, too. "I'll be in touch. Call me if you find anything else out about Vinnie."

I gave him a salute. "Ten-four, Captain."

He walked over to me and gave me another one of _those_ kisses. "That's Colonel to you, smartass." He pulled away and smiled. "You know my number."

I walked out to my car wondering what he meant by that comment. Of course I knew his number. Did he want me to call if I needed help with an FTA or did he want me to call him when I was feeling a lack of self-control?

I motored back towards my apartment. No doubt Bob had probably ruined everything in sight. Sigh. I don't know if I could do this dog thing. He was cute and all, but maybe Morelli would like to keep him. When I got there, I saw a note taped on my door.

_I've got Bob_, the note read. _He was howling and making a racket up here so I brought him to my place. Good thing I came when I did. He was about to eat your TV set._ Dillon, my building super, and an all around great guy, wrote the note.

I turned around and took the elevator to Dillon's little cubbyhole in the bowels of the building. I could hear the TV through the door as I knocked. Sounded like Dillon was watching ESPN. Go figure. Dillon and Bob opened the door, each with a smile on their face.

"Hey there," I said. "I'm really sorry about that."

"Hey, Steph! Boy, this sure is a great dog," Dillon gushed.

_Bingo_. We've found a winner. "You like him, huh?"

"Yup. Did you know that he likes ESPN?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know."

Dillon motioned me in. "Have a beer. It's five o'clock somewhere. Boy, Bob sure was mad when I got him out of your apartment last night. He was howling and whining away."

"Yeah, I know," I said, working up to my new idea. "I sort of got dumped with him, and my life isn't the best to have a dog with. Sometimes I struggle with Rex. I don't know what to do with him when I'm gone."

Dillon grinned. "I'll take him anytime you need me too. He's great company."

I smiled back. "You've got yourself a deal. And thanks, Dillon. This really helps me out."

"Sure thing. Just leave him in your apartment when you leave in the mornings and I'll come get him. I'll bring him back to you when I see that you're home."

"Sounds good."

Don't I have the best friends ever?

* * *

Ah, life is good. As of right now I'm stalker-free, my dog is being cared for, and I had a sneaky suspicion that I had Ranger's number- in more ways than one.

Shaking my head, I brought my attention back to the stack of FTAs sitting in front of me. My choices were 2 DUI's, a car thief, a vandal, and a candle thief.

_Whoa_. Candle thief, really? I flipped through the file. Margaret Lowzer was charged with stealing $800 worth of candles from "Candle Heaven" in the mall. How on earth do you steal $800 worth of candles? And why? The only thing I used candles for were to sit out on my coffee table to make my room smell better. I never lit it on account of I'm a little wary of fire since all my accidents.

I stuffed all the files in my bag and left the apartment again, locking up after myself. I figured I'd try Margaret Lowzer first. Hopefully, the candle thief wouldn't be packing. As I drove to Margaret's house I was trying to figure out where I'd heard the name Lowzer before. When it hit me, I suddenly understood the candle thing a little better. I had gone to school with Margaret's sister, Caroline. Caroline had always had this thing about candles, always carrying them around in her purse and her bookbag. Caroline sometimes had a funky body odor, which was forever mixed with the flowery scents she carried. Really weird. It seemed to be a familial trait.

Pulling up to Margaret's house, I could see candles burning through all the windows. As far as I could tell, candles were the only source of light coming from her house. This was way weird. I knocked on the door and it was presently answered by a younger version of Caroline.

"Margaret Lowzer?" I asked politely, sticking out my hand. "I'm Stephanie Plum, representing your bond company. Are you aware that you've missed your court date?"

A look of confusion passed over her face. "Court date?"

"Yes, you didn't show up at your assigned court date so I need to take you down to the station to let you reschedule. It won't take long." It wouldn't take long for me at least.

Margaret was still confused. "I had a court date?"

Good grief. I think she'd been sniffing one to many candles. I'm pretty sure there was room for rent in Margaret's head.

I put on a smile and gently maneuvered myself inside her house. "Why don't you blow out all those candles and then we can go for a ride?"

She appeared to be thinking about it for a minute. "Okay," she said finally, "but I'll need to take a few candles with me." Fine. Whatever. I didn't care as long as they weren't lit. I just wanted to get my money and go home. I had bigger fish to fry.

I followed Margaret as she walked all through her house, humming tunelessly and blowing out candles. At least she was a relatively happy and docile person. That was definitely more than I could say about most of my FTAs.

* * *

Thirty minutes later I left the police station with my body receipt in hand. I had seen Morelli a ways down the hall. He didn't approach me, and I didn't approach him, but I could see him watching me.

As I cruised back down Hamilton, I happened to look over at a man that was walking slowly and drunkenly down the sidewalk. I kept driving for a second before it hit me. _Holy cats!_ That guy was one of my FTAs! I did a quick U-ey and parked Big Blue in a spot along the street. I sat in the car, taking another quick look at his file before I hopped out and approached him.

"Sam Walters?" I asked politely. "Stephanie Plum. I'm from Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. You missed your court date and we would like you to reschedule."

He, like Margaret Lowzer, looked confused. After a minute his confusion seemed to clear off and he smiled at me. "Well, I guess that would be okay, pretty lady," he replied. "We're gonna have to go in your..._burp_...car though cause I surely can't drive."

I fanned the air in front of me. _No shit, Sherlock_, I thought. _That's what got you in this problem in the first place_. I loaded him into Big Blue and drove back down to the police station yet again. This was turning out to be a great day. I managed to get two of my FTAs and no guns, garbage, or knives were involved. I must be improving with this bounty hunter stuff.

I went through the whole police station ordeal again, running into Eddie and Carl and spending a few minutes shooting the shit. They introduced me to a new cop, Randy DeParma. He seemed like a really nice guy. He was of medium height with sandy brown hair and fairly decent looking. Once again, I saw Morelli watching me from a distance but I decided to ignore it. His eyes were narrowed as he watched me talk to the guys. I figured there was nothing I could do to change or help the Morelli situation right now so I may as well just leave it alone.

* * *

When I escaped a second time from the station it was near dinnertime. I was debating the merits of being a good daughter and eating with my family when I realized that someone was leaning against my car. That someone was wearing black army pants and SWAT boots with a shirt that fit him like an old tattoo. He had a small gold hoop in one of his ears and I was about to swoon right on the spot. I don't think I'll ever get used to looking at this man.

"Yo."

I smiled. "Yo yourself. Why are you here?"

"Drove by. Figured I'd wait for you and we could go get something to eat." He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yum," I said. "Lead the way, but nothing too healthy, okay? That salad at lunch almost did me in."

He smiled. "You got it."


	5. Chapter 5

_Standard disclaimer applies. _

_A very special thank you to all of the people that have reviewed and followed this story! I can't believe how much fun I'm having with this, and I love that other people are enjoying it, too. I will say this- I appreciate all of the amazing FF stories I read even more now that I have a better idea of what goes into one! :)_

**CHAPTER 5**

"That stuff'll kill you, babe."

I rolled my eyes. My first choice would have been to stick out my tongue, but since my mouth was full of food I decided against that idea. Lucky man. He just smiled at me between mouthfuls of his salad. I swear, if the man ate any more salad he was going to turn into a rabbit. I was pretty sure that kissing the human Ranger would be much more preferable to kissing a rabbit Ranger. I glanced at him again. Oh yeah.

We were eating in Pino's. I never thought that I would see Ranger in Pino's but hey, there's a first time for everything. All of the tables were full, so we were sitting at the far end of the bar where Ranger could keep his back to the wall. Either that, or he just wanted something to lean on. We could hear the waiters telling the cooks the orders that people were calling in. Pino's was a popular place; especially at dinnertime. The food was consistently good and it delivered.

"One large pizza! Extra cheese and extra anchovies!" I was only half listening to what the waiter was yelling back to the kitchen. When I heard the order for anchovies, I made a face. _Yuck_. What kind of moron would put anchovies on a perfectly good Pino's pizza?

"He wants it delivered! 1045 Locker Dr. The name's Plum."

_Geez_, I wish that waiter guy would quit yelling. Makes my pizza go the wrong way. Then my brain registered what the waiter had been yelling. Give me a break. Like I said, I was only half listening. Now, who do we know that is a moron? And who else named Plum would order a Pino's pizza? And who couldn't come in himself to pick it up? Bingo!

Ranger and I exchanged glances. I was so excited I was about to start panting; Ranger was calm and cool. We simultaneously got up and Ranger left a few bucks on the counter to cover our meal. We beat feet out of there and hopped in Ranger's car.

"How are we going to do this?" I asked.

"Knock on the door. Take him in."

Gee, that was helpful. "Gosh, thanks," I said sarcastically. "I didn't realize that we were supposed to take him in. I thought we were just gonna deliver his pizza to him."

Ranger's mouth hinted at a smile. "You could do that, too."

We did a drive-by look-see at 1045 Locker before Ranger parked the car. It was a normal looking house. A few lights were on inside. Vinnie's car was nowhere to be seen, but no doubt he had gotten another car somewhere along the way.

We walked up to the door and gave it a knock. The door was opened by Vinnie himself.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. He turned around and took off through the house. Aw, hell. I wasn't in shape for anything like this!

Ranger took off after Vinnie and I was right behind him. With every step, Vinnie created an obstacle course for us, turning over chairs, tables, and anything else. I shrieked in surprise when a late-falling floor lamp hit me in the middle of my back. Ranger hesitated, torn between catching his prey and checking on me. Vinnie took advantage of the moment, bolting out the back door and into a waiting car in the alley. The engine caught and the car was gone before Ranger or I could stop him.

"Well, hell," Ranger said. "This is serious."

I was too busy concentrating on my breathing to respond at that moment. I'm out of shape. So sue me.

"I don't understand," I said, when we had gotten in the car. "It wasn't that big of a offense. It's not like he murdered anyone."

"Who knows, Babe."

I cleared my throat, trying to hide a smile. "I'll be honest, though. I never thought I'd see the day that Vinnie 'the Pervert' Plum would best Batman."

Ranger's eyes slid over to me ever so slowly. "Watch it. _You_ were just bested by a lamp."

I smiled and closed my eyes, trying to appear totally relaxed and at ease. "You don't scare me," I lied.

Ranger gave a soft chuckle. "I should," he said.

I let my thoughts drift off and the next thing I knew I had the feeling of gently floating through the air. I was in Ranger's arms. This could be promising. In my sleepy haze, I took a deep breath of his unique scent and snuggled closer, feeling his arms tighten in response. I dozed off again even before we reached the door.

_This could be promising,_ my ass. I'd fallen asleep...again! I can't believe myself sometimes. I'm such a dope. I huffed out a sigh and took stock of my surroundings.

* * *

It was 8:30 the next morning. Sunlight was streaming through the windows of Ranger's bedroom. I couldn't believe it. I was in Ranger's bed...again. Ranger was already up and gone...again. Was it me? I mused to myself. Am I _that_ scary in the morning? Something to dwell upon on a rainy day, which was not today.

Once again, I stole Ranger's robe and padded out of the bedroom. This was beginning to feel pretty darn domestic. That's even scarier than how I look in the morning. This time when I found Ranger he was in the pool, effortlessly swimming lap after lap. I sat in a deck chair and just watched him. The rhythmic movements of his body cutting through the water were hypnotic.

Fifteen minutes later, Ranger pulled himself out of the pool. My breath caught as I watched him walking towards me. He was beautiful.

I was treated to the 200 watt grin. "Hey, Babe."

"Morning."

"You fell asleep again."

I blushed. "I know. Sorry about that."

"You wanna swim?"

"Umm...no thanks. I don't have a suit."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you need one?"

_Eek_. "What's for breakfast?" I asked, changing the subject. Avoidance is my motto. When you hit a sticky situation, change the subject. I've gotten pretty damn good at it, too. I could see the beginnings of a smile. Ranger knew that I had changed the subject. Couldn't fool Batman.

"Come see."

I followed him in the kitchen and found a bowl of fruit salad on the table. I scooped a generous amount into the bowl that was waiting for me and dug in. It was pretty good. Not exactly Bostom Crème good, but it would hold me over until I got to Tasty Pastry or McDonald's. I figure the pizza that I had last night is balanced out by all the healthy food I'm eating over here. Hell, I could even be losing weight!

"So what's the plan for the day?" I asked between mouthfuls. "Anything new?"

* * *

The morning went about the same as the morning before. Ranger worked on his car, Tank came over with some smartass comments, and I eventually got fidgety and left. I was driving one of Ranger's cars, seeing as how mine was still in the parking lot of Pino's. I rolled my eyes, thinking how that probably made for good Burg gossip over coffee this morning. This time I was driving another Beemer. Ranger was apparently undaunted by the fact that the last Beemer he loaned me was stolen.

I went back to my apartment, retrieved Bob from Dillon, and went through my morning routine. My machine was about to speed blink itself right off the counter. I pushed the play button and grabbed a glass of juice from the fridge while I listened to the messages.

The first was from my mother, of course. "Stephanie? Where are you? I heard that your car was parked at Pino's all last night. Are you hurt? I'm going to send your father over soon if I don't hear from you. I want you to come to dinner tonight." Click.

Next up was Mary Lou. "Stephanie? Where have you been? I heard your car was at Pino's all last night and that you left with some guy in a Beemer. Was it Ranger? Dear God, he's hot. I want the details! Call me!" Click.

The next few messages were from my mother again. Another message was from Mr. Alexander, reminding me that I had an appointment today at 3:30 to get highlights. Shit. I had totally forgotten about that.

The final message was from the last person I least expected to hear from- Morelli. His voice was quiet and serious. "Hey, Cupcake. Just wanted to know if you were okay. Your mom called me this morning, looking to see if I was at your house and she told me that your car was at Pino's all night last night. She thought you were with me." Alright already. So my car was at Pino's last night. Get over it people. It's not like we did anything. I mean, we slept together and all but we didn't _sleep_ together. Yet. Okay, one step at a time, Steph. Morelli's voice cut back into my thoughts. "I want you to call me. I don't care what time it is. I need to know you're okay." Click.

Okay, so I felt a little bad. Joe obviously still had feelings for me. But what was I to do about that? Call him, a little voice said in my head. Go ahead and call him. "And say what? I stayed with Ranger?" I replied. _Oops_. Was that out loud? Bob was looking at me a little weird. Poor guy, he probably thought I was a nut, too. Just then, there was a knock on my door. Still preoccupied with my thoughts I opened the door without looking through the peephole first. I opened the door, looking into those beautiful whisky brown eyes. _Damn_. I didn't want to go through this again now.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

I closed the door behind Morelli, leaned against it, and gave a great big sigh. It was a sigh of mixed emotions. Relief, for one.

I'll be honest. When I opened the door and saw Morelli, my imagination went into hyper-drive. It conjured up images of him with his arms waving around like a windmill and spittle flying from his mouth while my face turned purple and I screamed back like a banshee. Shockingly, that wasn't the case. We sat down and had a nice long chat, without yelling, discussing what our relationship was and what it wasn't. Awkward? Yes. Somewhat painful? Yes. However, the reality is that this talk was _long_ overdue. We wanted such different things that we knew that it wouldn't work out. Especially not right now, with all the feelings that I was having for Ranger. But maybe I didn't tell Morelli that part.

There were a few hairy moments, such as when he asked why a shiny, black BMW was sitting in my usual parking spot instead of my car. I glossed over the truth as much as possible on that one. I could see the skepticism in his face, but he wisely didn't push the issue. I'm thinking maybe he knew that he really didn't _want_ to know. As soon as possible, I put him on the defensive by asking about the creepy staring at the police station.

Getting up to leave, Joe paused, almost like he was unsure of what to do. The old Joe would have snagged me around my waist and played tonsil hockey. The new Joe looked like he was thinking about it, but restrained himself. He left with a "well, see you around, Cupcake."

I wandered in my bedroom and flopped down on the bed in my usual thinking position, flat on my back, sprawled across the bed. I had a lot to think about, that's for sure.

First of all, Ranger. What exactly did I feel for him? Lust? Desire? Yep. Yep. Okay, now for the biggie...love? _Hmm_. That one needs more thought, but I would say that I'm heading in that direction. _Damn_. I didn't know if I was ready to go there or not. That left me with only one thing to do...procrastinate.

I got up and took a shower, doing the usual make up and hair thing, and looked square in the mirror.

"Take that, you scum bag!" I said, glaring at the mirror with my death rays. I changed my tactic, putting on a sweet and innocent expression, flitting my eyelashes. "Flowers? For me? You shouldn't have!"

Warmed up, I walked out the door, grabbing my purse and coat on the way and telling the apartment bye. I sauntered out the back door with the Beemer keys in my hand. Might as well do things right, I figured. If I'm in such a kick ass mood I think I deserve to drive a kick ass car. Hell, I always deserve to drive a kick ass car.

I stopped in the middle of the lot, looking around for the car. _Oookay_. Something's wrong in this picture. No Beemer. The spot where I had parked was now filled with Mr. Slockter's old Buick. Damn those Buicks.

Okay Steph, be reasonable, I told myself. Look around. Maybe someone just moved it...or something. I quickly canvassed the area and looked down all the streets that were by my apartment.

No Beemer.

My first reaction was to call Morelli. He was a policeman, after all. However, in light of the recent events, and the fact that I'd lost _Ranger's_ car, I figured that wasn't the best thing to do.

I could always call Ranger. Except that this was his car that was missing. Strike that one out, too.

Who else? My father? Lula? Mary Lou? Bingo! She wanted me to call her anyway, right? So I could be killing two birds with one stone. I ran back into the building and up in my apartment. I noticed Dillon had wasted no time in collecting Bob for the day, since Bob was now gone from my apartment. Rex blinked his beady eyes. I could read his thoughts and they were along the lines of_ what the heck are you doing back again?_

I gave him a glare. "Don't you start."

I called Mary Lou and filled her in and she said that she would be happy to drive me around for a while. Her kids were at her mother's and Lenny was at work so she was at loose ends anyway.

* * *

Thirty minutes later I was setting out once again, this time in the mom van, which wasn't very compatible with my kick ass mood. Except now my kick ass mood was gone with the wind and I was more in a _holy shit I'm going to be shipped to Cambodia_ mood. Cars were almost never stolen out of my parking lot, so this was definitely not the norm. To tell the truth, the only thing that did happen to cars in my parking lot were them blowing up. They always belonged to me.

After a little debate, we decided to just head over to the office and see what Connie and Lula knew. They might even have something to eat.

We were greeted with an enthusiastic "Hey girlfriends!" from Lula when we walked in the door and a more sedate hello from Connie. I guess the bad guys were still skipping even without Vinnie. Lucky for business that Connie could write the bonds. Truth be told, Vinnie was getting to be at the bottom of my list, too. Finding the Beemer was at the top. I wasn't keen on losing yet another one of Ranger's cars.

"Why you here, girl?" Lula asked Mary Lou in between slurps of what looked like a milkshake.

"Steph's car is missing," Mary Lou replied, rolling her eyes in my direction. I stuck my tongue out at her. Talk about letting the cat out of the bag.

Lula and Connie just looked incredulous. "What happened to the Buick? I thought your car was at Pino's?" Connie asked.

I sighed. "Actually, the Buick is fine. It _is_ at Pino's. The car that's missing in the Beemer I was driving this morning."

"Shee-it girlfriend! Ranger gave you another car! And you lost it already! What'd you do to him this time? Cause you know what a Beemer's worth-"

I cut her off. "_Nothing_. I did nothing. We followed up on a lead on Vinnie last night after we had dinner at Pino's so I left my car there. On the way back I fell asleep and Ranger took me to his house. We didn't _do_ anything."

"You're crazy," Lula replied. "Cause I sure as hell would have done _something_! Many, many times."

"Yeah, yeah. But the point is, have you heard anything about a Beemer around here?"

"Nope," Connie replied. "It's been really quiet."

Just then the door opened and Ranger walked in. I felt my stomach drop to the floor and I made a panicked LET'S GO face to Mary Lou. She was struck so dumb by his arrival that it was totally wasted.

He smiled when he saw me. "Hey, Babe."

I smiled nervously back, edging past him to the door. "Hey. Mary Lou and I were just about to go..uhh...shopping so I need to get going. I'll catch up with you later!"

I ran out the door with Mary Lou only a few steps behind me. We hopped in the mom van, Mary Lou revved the engine, and we were off to the races.

We spent a few minutes getting our breathing under control, me from panic and Mary Lou from hormones.

"So, now what?" Mary Lou asked, glancing at me sideways. "We're not really going shopping, are we?"

"Hell no! I've got more important things to do right now...maybe later though. I have an appointment with Mr. Alexander at 3:30." It was noon now.

"Oh, really? What are you going to get done?"

"Some blond highlights, I think. We'll see." Okay, I was getting off track. The car, Stephanie, the car! "Let's go to my Mom's and get some lunch. We can ask if they've heard anything."

"Good idea!"

* * *

Almost an hour later we were both full to bursting with meat loaf sandwiches. Mom was so happy to see Mary Lou again that she insisted we have some of the cake that was going to be tonight's dessert. The downside to the visit was the fact that neither she nor Grandma Mazur knew anything about a mysterious Black Beemer. Damn. Not to mention, I had to do some fast-talking to explain why I hadn't returned her million messages and why the Buick was at Pino's all night.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought how weird the situation was. I mean really! Under any other circumstances, news of the missing BMW would be flying along the Burg grapevine at the speed of light. Not now, though.

We eventually mustered our energy and left, declining Grandma's offer to accompany us. We didn't need to make this a bigger shit-show than it already was.

We were cruising on down Hamilton, once again aimlessly. I was staring out the window and wishing the car would just appear, _poof_, right in front of me. As we passed the Cluck in a Bucket on Hamilton I could see some poor soul inside in a big chicken suit, clucking around and performing his chicken duties.

My eyes wandered over the Cluck in a Bucket and then moved on before I had a moment of clarity. There was something on the flat roof of Cluck in a Bucket. That something looked an awful lot like a Beemer. And, to all appearances, it was a BLACK Beemer. Just sitting there. Weird.

"_STOP_! Stop the car! Turn around!" I shrieked to Mary Lou, eyes bugging out of my head.

"_What?"_ she shrieked back in panic.

"I found my car! The car is on top of the Cluck in a Bucket! _Someone put my car on top of the Cluck in a Bucket!_"


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

There were people everywhere. Apparently someone had already called it in to the police station so, only seconds after Mary Lou and I arrived on the scene, the cops did, too. And who else but Morelli was with them. Yay.

He strolled over with his hands in his pockets and a big smile on his face. "Yours, I'm assuming," he said, rocking back on his heels, grinning that dopey cop grin. In fact, all of the cops were grinning dopey cop grins.

I glared at him with my death rays. "Just get it _down_!" I yelled.

"A truck's on the way."

"Why the hell are you here, anyway? You're vice!" I was furious, yelling and waving my arms. People were staring but I didn't care. Someone had dared to put Ranger's BMW on top of a fast food restaurant and then Morelli and all his dumb cop friends had the gall to come and laugh? I don't think so.

Carl Costanza strolled over. "This is a real nice touch, Steph, but you won't be going far with your car on a roof."

Now I turned my death rays to him. "If you value your lives you both will stop grinning. Now just get my car off there!"

"Your car, huh? Does _Ranger_ realize that _his_ car is sitting on top of Cluck in a Bucket?" Morelli asked.

God, I hope not. "Shut it, Morelli."

Just then Mary Lou came walking up. "The truck is here, Steph. They brought a crane of some sort and it looks like it won't be too hard to get your car down."

"Thank god," I said, turning my back to Morelli and Costanza. Who needed them? "Let's go over there. If there is one scratch on that car I am going to be pissed…and dead."

"A couple of questions for you first, Cupcake," Morelli called.

I turned around, rolling my eyes. "Now what?"

Costanza was grinning again. "You need to fill out a report. Come in for questioning. Gaspick thinks that you need to be charged with disturbing the peace."

I looked at them with my eyes as big as saucers. "I didn't do anything! Someone stole MY car and put it on there! I have _no clue_ how it could have even gotten up there in the first place!"

Morelli looked at me. "Stephanie, you really do need to come with us. You're not in trouble."

I rolled my eyes again, but I followed him. Mary Lou said that she'd stay and check things out. I'm pretty sure she was doing less checking on the car, and more checking on the emergency personnel. Just sayin'.

The questioning wasn't so bad. Morelli stayed with me the whole time while Officer Gaspick asked his annoying questions. A few times Morelli shot Gaspick a warning look. Finally, I was able to go, but I had no ride. Morelli had to get back to work so he couldn't take me home. Not to mention, he'd been weirdly supportive all afternoon, and I didn't want to push my luck. I finally gave in and called Ranger to pick me up.

* * *

I was waiting outside the station for Ranger when he pulled up.

"Yo, Babe."

"Yo yourself."

"Care to tell me why you're at the police station without the car?" he asked, sliding a glance my way.

I blushed. The smart part of me was screaming _No!_ No! Don't tell him! while the stupid part of me was like, Go ahead. He probably knows anyway. So I went with the Stupid Stephanie and told him. "Okay, well, to tell you the truth, the reason I was at the station is because of the car. See, this morning I went to leave my apartment and then the car was gone. So I got Mary Lou to drive me around and I found it..." I paused. "on the roof of the Cluck in a Bucket on Hamilton."

I shot him a furtive glance and was relieved to find that he was not mad in the least. In fact, he looked quite amused.

"At least you can still drive it," he said smiling.

"So you're not mad?"

"Nope. I'm assuming that's why you ran out of the office this morning with Mary Lou when you saw me?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I didn't want you to know."

"Who put it up there?"

"No idea," I said, shaking my head. "But my guess would have to be Joyce Barnhardt."

"Good guess. She showed up at Cluck in a Bucket after you left with Morelli."

I gaped at him. "How do you know?"

"Heard the call on the police radio in the office," he said.

Geez, it was almost scary how he always knew everything. I narrowed my eyes. "And you let them take me to the station for questioning?"

I saw the muscles in his jaw tighten. "I didn't know they were doing that or else I would have stopped it."

_Hmm_, something to ponder. Something else to ponder was how the hell I was going to get revenge on Joyce Barnhardt. That bitch.

Ranger idled in my apartment parking lot, where the BMW had magically reappeared. "What's your plan for the rest of the day?" he asked.

"Hair appointment at 3:30, and that's about it."

"You better get a move on then, it's 3:20."

Oh shit! I looked at my watch to make sure. I had no idea that I'd been at the station for that long. "Gotta go," I said, jumping out of the car.

Ranger leaned over and gave me a long kiss. "Have fun. Be at my place for dinner at 6. We've got to talk." Then he was gone.

_Eeek_. What did we have to talk about? I mentally reviewed everything I'd done in the last couple days, and nothing major popped into mind that I should be guilty about. Stop it, I told myself. He's not your mother. He's not going to yell at you. In the meantime, you're going to miss your appointment.

I hopped in my car and floored it out of the lot. Nothing like having a close call in missing a hair appointment to make a woman break the speed limit!

* * *

An hour and a half later I walked out of Mr. Alexander's shop in the mall. My hair now had natural looking blonde highlights, my frizz was tamed, and my curls were bouncy. Morelli and I had parted on fairly amicable terms, and Batman wanted me to come over for dinner tonight. I was feeling downright happy.

Only two things were bothering me: Joyce and Vinnie. Where the hell was Vinnie and why was he FTA over a charge that wasn't that big a deal? The judge undoubtedly would let him off easy since Vinnie was actually a good businessman. He brought in the crooks off the streets and made sure they came to their court dates. Actually, Ranger and I did that, but Vinnie got the credit for it.

And Joyce. What did I do to her that made her feel like she had to pull a stunt like that? How the hell did she accomplish it? And a bigger question, how was I going to make her pay?

On the way out of the mall, I ran through Macy's to look at their shoes. A girl can never have too many pairs of shoes, is my motto. While looking at a great pair of red FMPs and contemplating if I had enough time to try them on, I heard that voice coming from the make-up department. It was Joyce, behind the counter and gossiping with some of her cohorts. I immediately narrowed my eyes and I thought of beating Joyce over the head with the shoe that I had in my hand, but then I realized that if I did I would undoubtedly be late for dinner at Ranger's. I didn't want to be in big trouble with Ranger, so I decided that Joyce could wait at least another day.

I pulled up at Ranger's house at 5:58, buzzing through the gates with the BMW's key fob, and I breezed in the kitchen. Ranger was at the stove, cooking up something that smelled absolutely delicious. He smiled at me when I walked in and gave me a light kiss on the lips.

"Not even late," he said, still smiling.

"Of course not," I replied haughtily, teasing him.

I saw his eyes darken when he saw what I had done to my hair. Hmm. I guess he likes it. "Nice," he said. "I like it."

I smiled back at him. "So, what smells so good?"

"Dinner. You hungry?"

In answer to his question, my stomach rumbled loudly. "There's your answer," I told him.

I studied him while I ate the delicious meal he cooked. I didn't really know what it was, and I was sort of afraid to ask in case it was brussel sprouts casserole or something hideous like that. Something was different with Ranger tonight. He seemed more relaxed, but I could tell that he was a little...nervous? Hmm.

"You're staring," he said, without looking up.

I blushed. "Sorry. Just thinking. So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

He finally looked at me. "I've got something to ask you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"I wanted to see if you would like to come to Boston with me this weekend."

For the second time that day, I knew my eyes were as big as saucers. "Boston?" I choked out. "What for?"

"Remember how I told you I own a building in Boston? Well, I happen to own the company in the building too, and they are having a big party which I have to attend. I wanted to see if you would be my date."


	8. Chapter 8

_A special thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed! I've tried to send a PM to each reviewer, but please forgive me if I missed someone. _

_Standard disclaimer applies as usual. Blah blah blah._

**CHAPTER 8**

_Eek_! Ranger is asking me out on a date! A real date to a fancy party! My mind was whirling a million miles a minute and I was having a hard time trying not to pant like a dog from excitement. I mean, _hey_. How often does Batman go out on dates?

He was watching me with an amused expression on his face and I was sure that he knew exactly what I was thinking. ESPM, remember?

"Sure," I said, trying to retain some dignity and play it cool. "I'd love to." It was the truth, too. A weekend alone with Ranger- _oh, boy!_

"Good," he said. Was it my imagination or did he look a little relieved? Did he possibly think I would say no?

When I was done eating, I discreetly reached under the table to pop open the snap on my jeans, giving a big sigh. I was thinking about Vinnie, wondering why the devil he was FTA in the first place and why the devil we hadn't gotten him yet. Well, okay. I know I haven't tried my hardest, but I've been busy!

"So," I said. "Any news on Vinnie?"

Ranger glanced at me and finished chewing his final mouthful of food. He appeared to be thinking about his response. "Yup."

Well gee, I bet it took a lot of thought to come up with that answer. I rolled my eyes. "Aaaand?"

"And you'd better get ready to go. Button your jeans back up. Something's going down tonight and we gotta be there," he said cryptically, grinning when my eyebrows lifted in surprise at the comment on my jeans.

"How do you do that?" I asked him.

"God given talent."

"You have a God given talent of finding out information on take downs?"

He chuckled. "I thought you were talking your jeans. The information is just the result of some questioning and recon work."

I narrowed my eyes back at him. "So what's happening?"

"Vinnie's decided to turn himself in."

"_What?_ Why? How?" I was incredulous.

"I got a call this afternoon from him. Said he fixed all business that he needed to, and was ready to come back. He also didn't want to lose money on himself any longer."

Probably he didn't want to get his ass handed to him by Batman. "Where is he now?"

Ranger got up and put our dishes in the sink. "Waiting for us," he said, holding the door for me.

Once in the garage, Ranger opened the passenger door of the Cayenne for me to slide in. Before it closed, he looked at me for a moment with his eyes twinkling. "For the record, Babe, I'd be happy to share my _other_ God given talents with you whenever you're ready."

_Gulp._

* * *

After driving around for about 45 minutes, I was bored and had to pee. I also didn't have clue where we were headed; I just hoped we'd get there soon.

Feeling a bit like a child, I asked Ranger the question that every parent hates. "How much longer?"

"Bored, Babe?" Ranger asked, grinning at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yes, and I have to pee."

"Can't help you with the pee thing, but I can help you with your other problem," he said, glancing in my direction.

Yikes! What was that supposed to mean? Don't be foolish, Stephanie, I told myself. You know damn well what that means. I decided not to comment on Ranger's remark. Ranger smiled and I knew that he knew what I was thinking, as well as why I didn't respond. Damn.

About 5 minutes later, Ranger pulled up to the curb and stopped the car. We sat there for a few minutes in silence, me thinking about my bladder and Ranger thinking about God knows what. I was pretty far into my own zone when Ranger's voice cut into my daydreams.

"Look alive, Babe."

I popped back into reality and looked around. Someone was walking down the sidewalk in our direction, and when the person came closer I realized that it was my perverted cousin. I did what came naturally and rolled my eyes.

Vinnie walked up to the car, and I could tell that he was nervous. He kept looking around and I thought his eyes were about to jump out of his head they were moving so much. It was then that I noticed Ranger had pulled a gun from the small of his back. I figured it was in case someone decided to come after Vinnie, but hey, it could be to shoot Vinnie for all I know. I'd wanted to shoot the rat on several different occasions.

Vinnie and Ranger locked eyes and Ranger gave a little, almost imperceptible nod. Vinnie nodded back and slid in the car. Just as Vinnie's door closed a 4-door sedan came careening around the corner, heading straight for us. Ranger immediately slammed the Cayenne in drive and floored it out of there. I turned around, watching the little POS car try to chase us, but it was no use. It had nothing on the Porsche.

The drive back to Trenton was without excitement and totally silent. This could be due to the fact that Ranger's right hand on my knee, thus rendering me incapable of speech. Amazingly, Vinnie had said not a word since he got in the car. I finally pushed all those thoughts (like Ranger, and having to pee) out of my head and turned around to Vinnie.

"Why were you running?"

"Huh? Oh. Why do you care?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Cause we were the ones that had to look for your sorry ass, and I want to know why you were FTA in the first place."

"None of your business," he snapped back nastily at me.

"Listen, you little turd-" Ranger squeezed my knee gently and I turned around to look at him. "What?" I snapped. His look told me to cool it.

Fine. Whatever. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Vinnie watching us. He was looking at Ranger's hand on my leg and smirking. I narrowed my eyes even more and sat back in my chair, wishing Ranger would just get to the station already so I could at least pee.

We got to the TPD faster than I thought, thank God. I jumped out of the car the second it stopped, dashing off for the bathroom while Ranger turned Vinnie over. I took my time, knowing that Ranger was filling out the apprehension paperwork. When I finally emerged from the bathroom I was surprised, once again, by none other than Joe Morelli.

"Hey, Cupcake," he said. "Got a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?" I'd been so preoccupied with my bladder, I hadn't even thought about the possibility of seeing Morelli here. Not that seeing him was a bad thing, just unexpected.

"Congrats on bringing in Vinnie."

I shrugged. "Wasn't a big deal. He turned himself in."

I waited, knowing that Morelli had more on his mind than Vinnie's return.

"Cupcake," he began, "I know there's something going on with you and Manoso." He paused. "In fact, I think there's more to it than even you realize. Now that I'm aware of that, and because I care about you, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not going to harass you about it. I'm going to stand back and let you make your own decisions, but I thought that you needed to know. Even if we're not together, you should know that I will always love you."

I was speechless. What did he mean, _more than I realized?_ I could barely think straight but I managed to croak out, "More than I realize?"

Okay, so it was sort of a heartless comment, considering the man had just poured his heart out to me, but hell, I wanted to know what he was talking about.

To my surprise Joe rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it. My point was all the other stuff I said."

I blushed. "Yeah, I know." I could see Ranger walking down the long hallway towards us.

"I better get back to work," Morelli said, turning away and starting to walk in the other direction.

"Joe?" I called after him.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning in my direction once more.

To my surprise, I found myself running up to him and throwing my arms around him in a big hug. "Thank you. I'll never forget this."

"I know," he said, hugging me back with a little smile. He gave Ranger a small nod, then turned and walked away.

At that moment Ranger reached me, and put his arm around my shoulders. "Ready to go, Babe?"

I smiled up at him. "Yeah," I said, "I'm ready."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

The next morning I woke up in my very own bedroom- alone. The previous night, Ranger dropped me off, but not before an extensive game of tonsil hockey in his car.

"Later, Babe. Remember that we leave day after tomorrow for Boston. Dress formally."

With that, he was gone, and I headed to my apartment, collecting Bob on the way. It suddenly hit me how tired I was. I barely managed to pull on some pajamas and brush my teeth before I flopped in bed and was down for the count.

The first thought that came to my head was what Ranger had said the night before about the party in Boston. _Oh shit! _I made a mental list of the necessities: a dress, shoes, a purse, new make-up to go with the outfit… Yikes. I also needed to visit Clara's and get my nails done. Maybe even spring for a pedicure. Might as well pull out all the stops.

I was reaching for the phone on my bedside table to call Mary Lou when it rang. It was my mother, telling me that I had to get my grandmother out of the house NOW before my dad strangled her. I wavered about taking her shopping with me; that is, until Mom said that I would not be taking home any kind of leftovers for weeks if I didn't take her. I hastily replied that I would pick Grandma up at 11:00 to go shopping.

I called Mary Lou to see if she wanted to go shopping, too. She did, and she suggested that I also ask Lula and Connie. We were gonna look like a friggin' parade.

* * *

I pulled up in my parent's front yard at 11:00 on the dot. As usual, Mom and Grandma Mazur were shoulder to shoulder at the front door. As soon as I walked in the house Mom started in on me.

"What is this I hear about you dumping Joe Morelli? Where did you get that car? You don't have enough money for a car like that!"

"Mom," I groaned. "Joe and I were never going to work. We just weren't on the same page. The car is…a loaner. Ranger gave it to me to use."

"Cool! Let's go, Steph! I can look like a real babe in a car like that. Maybe I need one of those hunky bounty hunters to go with it, too. I can tell you _exactly_ what I would do with one of those!" Grandma Mazur cackled. "First, I would take him and-"

I broke in on Grandma's little oration. "Okay, let's go. We're picking everyone up at the office in 10 minutes."

Grandma promptly flew out the door and towards the BMW. "Can I drive, Steph? I got my license thing you know."

Drive? My Beemer? "NO!" I shouted at her.

"You let her drive and I'm holding you responsible for anything she does, Stephanie!" I heard my mom call from the front porch. "You're responsible for her!"

When we pulled up at the office Mary Lou, Connie, and Lula were all waiting for us. They piled in the backseat and we roared off toward Macy's.

"So what's the big deal, girlfriend? Why you want all of us here to shop with you?" Lula asked from the backseat.

I blushed. "Well..."

"What? What?" they all demanded.

"Okay. Ranger asked me to go to Boston with him this weekend. We'll be going to a party for a business that he owns. I need an outfit."

Of course, this comment resulted in a huge outcry everyone in the car. The girls speculated about my upcoming weekend and its implications until we got to Macy's. We piled out of the car excitedly, walking through the big doors like five women on a mission. Watch out world!

* * *

Two hours later, I wasn't in quite the same mood I had been. Everyone found something great except me; even Grandma Mazur found a barely-there bra and panty set for her "wild nights." We didn't ask.

I was absently browsing through rack after rack of dresses that I had already been through about 3 times in case I missed something. I had tried on tons of dresses but hadn't found _the dress_.

"Steph! I got it!" Connie screeched.

All five of us swarmed on Connie. She triumphantly held up a beautiful deep wine-colored dress that would fall a few inches above my knee, a sweetheart neckline, and a matching pashmina. It was perfect! I knew it even before I tried it on.

In the dressing room, I couldn't help but stare at myself in the mirror. This was a magic dress. My legs looked longer, my breasts looked bigger, and it emphasized my ass…ets.

"It's you, Steph! You've _got_ to get it!" Mary Lou exclaimed.

Don't need to tell me twice. I quickly changed back into my regular clothes and forked over my Macy's card. We then hit the shoe department, where I found the perfect pair of four-inch FMPs to go with the perfect dress.

Next, we headed to the make-up counter. It was a unanimous decision that I needed make-up to match the dress. Connie, the nail polish queen, found a crimson nail polish and offered to do my nails for free so I wouldn't have to pay for Clara's.

The first thing I saw when I got to the counter of my favorite make-up brand was the make-up lady, none other than Joyce Barnhardt. Yes, Joyce Barnhardt- the bitch who put my Beemer on top of Cluck in a Bucket. She was helping (or torturing) another customer, and hadn't seen us approach. We quickly decided it was time for a little revenge.

Mary Lou, Connie, Lula, Grandma Mazur, and I huddled up for a Ranger-worthy planning session. We decided Grandma Mazur would be the best at distracting her while we got everything in place.

A few minutes later, Joyce had successfully scared away her customer and Grandma sauntered up to the counter. Joyce, being the stupid bitch she was, didn't recognize Grandma Mazur, and was acting polite and doing her make-up lady thing.

"Ready?" I asked the others.

They all grinned back at me. Every one of them hated Joyce as much as I did. Maybe.

We set off to our separate areas and performed our assigned tasks. When I heard the signal, Grandma asking about wrinkle reducer, I stepped up from my hiding spot directly behind Joyce. She hadn't heard me sneak up behind her during her babbling to Grandma.

I went around to Joyce's far side and tapped her on the shoulder. I was right in the position where she would have to step directly back to get away from me. We were counting on that. Unfortunately (for her), there was a big puddle of lotion on the floor, and she fell right on her ass, bonking her head on the counter in the process. She looked dazed for a moment, sitting in a puddle of lotion with her arm in a cast and a confused look on her face. That didn't last night before Connie stepped in and zapped her with a stun gun. Everyone rushed forward while Grandma Mazur kept a lookout for any other store employees.

Lula and Connie attacked Joyce's face with the most hideous make-up colors they could find. Meanwhile, Mary Lou stuck a sign on her back reading I CAN MAKE U BARK & BEG. CALL JOYCE FOR A GOOD TIME. 694-555-9379.

We were wrapping up when Grandma gave us the signal that someone was coming. We quickly dispersed and met back up at the car, laughing hysterically.

We high fived all around, and by the time we'd calmed down we figured that Joyce was probably just coming back around. Back we trouped into Macy's, but this time we went upstairs so we could observe from above.

Shortly after we got into position on the 2nd floor, Joyce started coming back to around. She sat up, rubbing the back of her head, but, thank God, not touching the front or glancing in a mirror. She quickly stood up, glancing around. Gosh, I wonder who she's looking for?

Through some twist of fate, Joyce never thought to look in the mirror or look up towards the 2nd floor for the first 45 minutes. People would stop and stare, little kids would point and giggle, and we just sat up there laughing our heads off.

Finally, she got smart and looking in the mirror. When she saw herself she fainted dead away, and we about fainted too- from laughter. We figured it was probably time to leave since people were starting to look at us funny, too.

* * *

I pulled up to my apartment later that evening with all my purchases, including a new set of make-up purchased in another store. After our shopping spree, the five of us had decided to go out for dinner and a couple of drinks, and we had been there awhile.

It was at dinner that one of the current mysteries in my life was solved. We'd been stuffing our faces and knocking back beer, reminiscing about the Joyce experience that afternoon, when Mary Lou spoke up.

"I gotta say, this afternoon was _classic_." She shook her head fondly. "Even more so because of the irony, don't you think?"

"I'll agree with the classic, girl, but what you talking about with that irony shit?" Lula demanded.

Mary Lou looked around in confusion. "Haven't y'all heard?"

"Heard what?" we chorused.

"The reason why Joyce put your car on the restaurant, Steph! It's been all over the Burg grapevine."

_Say what?_

"Say what?" Lula exclaimed. "We ain't heard nothing' about this! Have you, white girl?"

"Nope," I shook my head. "News to me. I can't wait to hear this."

"Well," Mary Lou began, "it turns out that Joyce has hated you even more than we thought for a long time now. She saw you driving the BMW the other morning and recognized it for one of Ranger's cars. You know how she thinks he's hot." We nodded. Who didn't? "Anyway, she flipped. Marjorie Selnick's cousin Carolyn works for a construction company with their own big machinery. Carolyn told Marjorie who told me that Joyce had your car towed to the restaurant, then paid one of the sub contractors to put it on the roof."

"What the _hell_?" I asked, flabbergasted. "_Why_?"

"Well, Alice Carnelli heard her bitching about you at the Shop N' Save, and basically, she was jealous of you! She thought by sleeping with Dickie all those years ago she'd finally be putting the screws to you. Now that you've been seeing people like Morelli and Batman, she's pissed. Not to mention everyone knows about you and Joe in high school. Besides, you know how much money she's put into plastic surgery! It burns her ass that she tried to screw you for years, and you've come out the better for it. You don't even have to sleep around or have multiple plastic surgery procedures."

"Christ!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air. "I'm living my life, not running a freaking rat race competition with Joyce Barnhardt!"

Mary Lou nodded. "I know, honey, and I think that's what pisses her off most of all. She thought by messing with Ranger's BMW he would get pissed at you."

"That bitch," I huffed.

Shaking my head, I came back to the present. Deciding I'd zoned out in the parking lot for long enough, I made my way into my apartment building.

My first stop was to inform Dillon that I would be away for the weekend and ask if he could keep Bob until Sunday or Monday. Dillon assured me that he would love to do so.

My second stop was in my bedroom, where I began to frantically throw stuff in my suitcase for the trip to Boston. I had no idea what to take, except for the dress of course, so I decided to pack everything.

I woke up the next morning with my body sprawled across my bed and my head resting on a pair of clean jeans that failed to make it into my suitcase. I stumbled into the shower bleary-eyed and lost in my morning fog. As I dried my hair, I realized the phone was ringing. It was Ranger, letting me know he was going to be at my apartment in an hour.

_An hour- yikes!_ Forget butterflies- I was so nervous I felt like someone had shaken a bottle of bumblebees and set them loose in my stomach. They only got worse as I finished getting ready and waited for Ranger to arrive. By the time he showed up, I thought I might be sick.

Exactly one hour later, Ranger walked in my apartment. He glanced at my huge suitcase sitting by the door and I swear he rolled his eyes. Without a word he walked over to me and gave me a bone-melting kiss.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yep," I replied grinning at him.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Nervous?"

"Who, me?"

He grinned, grabbing my hand in his and my suitcase in the other. "Liar."


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you SO SO much to everyone who has read this story! Many of you have been so sweet about reviewing multiple chapters. The best part is that I've "met" some new authors on here whose work I am now in love with! You can blame them for me not posting for a few days. _

_Also, I wanted to say how helpful the reviews have been. When I wrote this story over ten years ago, there were many things left unexplained in the storyline, such as why Vinnie went FTA and why/how Joyce put the car on the roof. The comments and reviews I got really helped me to see those glaring errors and gave me incentive to tweak the story. _

_Of course, the standard disclaimer applies. _

**CHAPTER 10 (The End)**

There are some people in the world that are old hats at traveling and get no longer get a thrill from flying. Not me; I'm the type of person that loves the hubbub of the airport, buying magazines from vendors, and the anticipation of going somewhere new.

Traveling with Ranger only made this experience better. As we pulled up to the curb at the airport, a valet immediately took charge of Ranger's car. We checked our bags and he guided me through the airport with his hand at the small of my back. I let him figure out where we needed to be while I enjoyed the people watching opportunities.

Thanks to Ranger's planning, it was a fairly uneventful plane ride. We only had to wait a few minutes before boarding the plane. It was my first time flying first class and I felt very fancy. I was able to settle comfortably in the seat, reading my magazine and looking out the window for the first part of the flight. After a while, however, the bumblebees returned and I felt the need to get up and move. Unbuckling my seatbelt, I gave Ranger's knee a little pat and told him I was going to find the little girls' room. He smiled at me before continuing to type on his laptop.

Imagine my surprise as I pushed through the curtain to see the Merry Men. Tank, Bobby, Lester, and Hal were all seated on the front row of seats. The guys all smiled or nodded when they saw me, completely unsurprised.

I stopped in confusion. "Where the hell did you guys come from?"

Tank smirked. "Need to be more aware of your surroundings, Little Girl."

_Really?_ I know I'm not always 'aware of my surroundings' but how on earth did I miss seeing these guys at the airport?

I stuck out my tongue, making the guys chuckle.

When I got back to my seat, Ranger looked up from his computer and smiled. "Have a nice visit?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

I played it cool. "You mean with the flight attendant?"

He chuckled. "Babe, admit it. You had no idea the guys were on the plane, did you?"

I gave him the same response I gave the Merry Men.

Ranger leaned over and spoke softly in my ear. "I could think of a lot better things you could do with that tongue, Babe."

_Holy hot flash, Batman! _I felt my eyes get big and my cheeks turn red.

For the sake of my dignity, as well as my panties, I changed the subject. "Can I ask you a question?"

Ranger quirked an eyebrow, which I took for assent.

"Why was Vinnie in hiding?"

For a moment, Ranger looked surprised, then he smiled ruefully. "I'm sorry, Babe. I owe you an apology. I had every intention of telling you this before now, but I guess I forgot."

I shrugged, making a _go on_ motion.

"Vinnie said he had to hide until his blood test results came back negative."

My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. _What the hell?_

Ranger continued, "You know his court date was for a misdemeanor, and it's very likely that the charges would have been dropped. However, the day before his court date, his…_friend_ told him that she had been diagnosed with syphilis. The weasel panicked. He knew he needed the blood test to see if he had it, but freaked out because of Lucille."

I could see that. Lucille might choose to turn a blind eye towards many of Vinnie's _adventures_, but she was a sharp woman. If Vinnie was wigged about something that serious, she would have been able to, well, weasel it out of him. I snorted. And if Lucille thought he'd exposed her to syphilis, she would have called Harry. Harry the Hammer would have rendered the blood test unnecessary, as he would have squashed Vinnie like the bug he is and hidden the body.

I shook my head. "It's really just too gross to think about, isn't it?"

Ranger smiled. "Babe."

I settled back in my seat to relax. Ranger was lightly tracing patterns on the back of my hand and seemingly lost in his zone.

I woke up a little while later to Ranger softly tucking my hair behind my ear and calling my name. "We're about to land, Babe."

Waiting at the airport for us was a shiny black BMW. Surprise, surprise. It wasn't the 850 Ci, but it was still nice. A black Explorer was parked behind it for the Merry Men. We all piled into our cars and Ranger led the way as we left the airport.

I had never been to Boston before, and was really impressed. I knew it was a big city, but I hadn't given any thought to the history you could clearly see in some of the architecture. As we drove, I felt a growing sense of nervousness about the party tonight. What would the other guests be like? How should I act with Ranger?

I was musing over these thoughts when we pulled up to a tall building, waiting for the gait to rise before entering the garage. Ranger turned to me and smiled. "Welcome to RangeMan Boston, Babe."

We stepped out of the car with the Merry Men close behind. Lester slung an arm around my shoulder and grinned. "Not nervous are you, Beautiful?"

I smiled sweetly up at him before sending a well-placed elbow in his gut. "Bite me, Santos."

We took the elevator up. The guys got off on the sixth floor, while Ranger held me back. "That's the control room, Babe. I can show it to you another time. I thought we'd spend the afternoon together before coming back to get ready for tonight." He lifted our joined hands and brushed a kiss across my knuckles. "Does that work for you?"

I gave a mock sigh. "I guess." It would have been more convincing if I'd managed to keep the smile from my face.

The elevator doors opened on the top floor. Much to my surprise, we stepped out into an apartment.

"This is where I stay when I'm in Boston, Babe," Ranger said, turning to me. "Like it?"

I looked around curiously. "It's great," I said, smiling. Our luggage had already been delivered and was waiting for us. Ranger gave me a quick tour of the one-bedroom apartment. It wasn't huge, but it was still bigger than my apartment by far. The apartment was decorated a lot like his house in Trenton.

"Hungry, Babe?"

I was suddenly brought back to the present. "Yep," I said, "that snack-sized bag of peanuts on the plane was barely enough to feed Rex."

"Let's get something for lunch. I know a great place that's close."

We headed down again. I gave the camera on the elevator a little finger wave, figuring if this was Ranger's building, it was likely someone was monitoring everything. About five minutes later we pulled up to a little restaurant called Neeve's.

Ranger was right; the food _was_ good. I ordered a pasta dish that was great. Ranger ordered some sort of shrimp plate, and we ended up eating from each other's plates as much as our own.

After dinner was over I sat back and gave a big sigh of contentment. "So," I said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Nervous about tonight?"

I shook my head. "Uh-uh. Not me."

The corners of his mouth rose. "You're lying."

I blew out another sigh. "Okay, so I'm nervous. I don't even know what kind of people will be there! You haven't told me much," I said accusingly.

"Not much to tell. I own the business, as well as the building where it will be held. I'm more of a financial backer- I don't take part in any of the day-to-day management. It's a real estate business that manages most of the large-scale commercial real estate sales in the Boston area. The party is to celebrate the firm's 8th anniversary."

I was amazed. He didn't usually offer this much information about anything. Also, that didn't sound like it had anything to do with security services. "Anything else?" I asked.

"You'll be the most beautiful woman there."

My heart rolled over in my chest and I felt myself blushing furiously.

Ranger smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Yep."

We had a few hours to kill between lunch and party primping. I had no idea what the plan was, but figured it involved Ranger going back to the office to get some work done.

"Back to the office?" I asked Ranger when we were in the car again.

"Actually, I thought we'd drive around and see the city for a while, then go back to the apartment and get ready," he said to me. "Sound good?"

I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Sounds great."

* * *

We pulled back up to the building at 3:45 after a relaxing few hours of sightseeing. Some of the time we stayed in the car, but we also got out and went for a walk in a beautiful park. We didn't talk much; just walked hand in hand, thinking our own thoughts. For once, I didn't feel the need to fill the air with chatter.

Back in the apartment I headed straight for the shower. Luckily, Ranger had two bathrooms, so we were able to get ready separately. I didn't want him to see me until I was absolutely perfect.

It took me right about two hours to get ready. I showered, touched up my nails, fixed my hair and put on make-up. My hair was pinned up, with a few curls hanging down by my face. I must say that my make-up and hair looked perfect. The last thing I did was carefully slip on my dress, wrap, and shoes. I took a deep breath and finally looked in the mirror. I was stunned. I looked pretty damn good! The bumblebees started doing the tango in my stomach.

Stop that, Stephanie, I told myself. Get a grip on yourself.

I heard a rap on the door. "You ready, Babe?" Ranger asked.

I slowly walked over to the door and opened it. "Yep."

I don't think he even heard my response. I heard his breath catch, and his eyes dilated black. We stared hungrily at each other for a few moments. He looked good enough to eat in a black Armani tailor-fit suit, charcoal gray tie, and black dress shoes. His hair was loose. There were diamond studs in his ears and a Rolex Submariner on his wrist. I almost fainted dead away.

"Babe," he said reverently. "You look incredible."

"Thanks," I blushed. "You do, too. Very successful, sexy businessman."

"I told you that you'd be the most beautiful woman in the room. Now I'm thinking more like the state." He paused. "I'm proud to say you're with me, Babe."

This immediately broke the tension and any nervousness I'd had. What was I worried about? I was with Ranger. I knew that I would always be fine, no matter where I was, as long as he was with me. We smiled at each other and Ranger offered me his arm, leading me out of the apartment.

* * *

The party was held at a big fancy building nearby. We met up with the Merry Men in the garage and were driven there in a huge black stretch limo. The guys gave me appreciative grins and whistles as Ranger and I climbed in.

When we pulled up to the building Ranger held my hand and kept me seated while everyone else climbed out of the limo.

"You okay, Babe?" he asked.

I smiled reassuringly at him. "I'm fine."

He smiled back. "You're a lot more than fine." He leaned in and kissed me. It was one of those kisses that made me melt and feel tingly all over. We climbed out of the limo and walked into the building.

When we walked in the room I was shocked to see there were literally hundreds of people, all nicely dressed and enjoying the scene. There was a noticeable dip in the noise level as we entered and dozens of eyes were upon us. I smiled, thinking that we probably made a good-looking couple. The contrasts of our skin tones and the pop of my wine-colored dress against his black Armani suit was striking. Not to mention, the man was _hot_.

Many people were staring, making me a little uncomfortable. I had the urge to look behind me to make sure Angelina Jolie hadn't just arrived. I'm pretty sure they were just staring at Ranger and how good he looked. Lots of smiles were aimed our way and people immediately surrounded us.

I was greeted with handshakes, cheek kisses, and even hugs. "Ms. Plum, how nice to finally meet you. We've heard so much about you" and "Ms. Plum, may I call you Stephanie? It's great to meet you. My name is..." and "Ms. Plum you're just as pretty as I'd heard..."

My head was spinning from all the compliments, names, and faces. I smiled, held out my hand, and did the meet-and-greet thing, feeling a little like Princess Di. These people were all so nice. Very different from Trenton, where people watched my every move, wanting to be the first report in the grapevine.

I made my way back to Ranger. He smiled and reached for my hand without stopping his conversation with a nicely dressed older gentleman. I stood contentedly, looking around the room, watching the happy people and dancing couples.

* * *

Two hours later, I was still sober and having a great time. Ranger and I had danced several times, and he kept telling me how beautiful I looked. I'd even danced a few times with the Merry Men and friends of Ranger's from Boston. I felt like I was walking on the clouds.

Ranger's voice broke into my reverie. "Babe, I need to go talk to a couple of people. Do you mind?"

I smiled teasingly at him. "Of course not! I'm not that much of a wimp, Ranger!"

He grinned back at me, giving me all the watts. "Good. I wouldn't want a wimpy girlfriend."

I watched as he walked away, smiling to myself. Just then a woman my age walked over and introduced herself as Nicki Arnold.

"Stephanie Plum," I said, sticking out my hand with a smile.

"I know who you are," she said smiling back. "Everyone knows about Carlos' date."

I was surprised to hear her call him Carlos. Everyone so far had called referred to Ranger as Mr. Manoso. I invited her to sit down.

"How do you know Ra-…Carlos?" I asked.

Nicki smiled. "I'm an interior decorator and I worked with him on a huge project a few years ago." She paused. "To be totally honest, we went on a few dates, too, but that was quite some time ago."

I could see Ranger talking and laughing with Tank and a group of guys across the room. Nicki saw me watching him and spoke up quietly. "You're very lucky, you know."

I turned to her in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"You're with Carlos. He's…quite a catch. Smart, successful, sexy as hell...," she trailed off. "Well, you know."

I smiled. "Yeah, I know."

She grinned mischievously at me. "How'd you do it? Several of us tried. We went on about two dates, but I could tell that his interests were elsewhere."

I decided that I really liked this woman. It's not often I meet a woman whom I feel like is shooting straight with me, and I felt Nicki was that type of person.

I laughed, "I blew things up."

She goggled at me. "You _what_?"

"Long story," I shrugged. "Suffice it to say that it certainly wasn't intentional. I've had my hands full enough during the last few years that I wasn't trying to reel anyone in. Luck, I guess. For once it's _good_ luck."

We laughed and sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, thinking our own thoughts and watching everyone around us. Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer; my curiosity was killing me. "Why do you call him Carlos?" I burst out.

She looked at me in surprise. "You don't?"

I sort of blushed and shook my head.

"What do you call him then?"

"Ranger. He was introduced to me as Ranger."

She smiled. "I see. Well, at work he is Mr. Manoso. When we went out a couple of times he told me to call him Carlos, and I just kept calling him that, even after our dates."

"Oh," I said intelligently.

At that moment, the band announced they were taking a break and set a mixed CD to play. Nicki announced she needed to go find her husband. At this comment I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

She grinned. "I told you Carlos and I were done. Shortly after we went out, I met my husband. He's a great guy, and there he is now, so I'd better go. It was great to meet you, Stephanie."

I smiled back at her and stuck out my hand. "You too!"

She gave me a sly smile. "I bet I'll just see more of you in the future. Come see me the next time you're in Boston."

As she walked away, arm in arm with her husband, I saw Ranger heading back to me. I smiled warmly as he approached, loving how even his walk was powerful and sexy.

"Hey Babe. Having fun?"

"I really am, thanks," I replied. "Are you?"

"With you here, yes," he said, smiling that smile at me. "If it were just me…not so much."

Ranger took a seat very close to me. We sat smiling at each other and I could hear the music in the background.

He leaned over, nibbling his way along my jaw and down my throat. By the time he bit lightly at the base of my neck, I was a puddle of goo. My hormones were screaming in hope, my nerve endings were shivering in delight, and my heart was doing the happy dance.

His lips cruised back over my ear lobe. "Ready, Babe?"

The concentration required to clear my head and speak English in response was enormous.

"Ready?" I asked. "Ready for what?"

"Everything."

**THE END**

_**Another huge thank you to everyone for reading this story! Now that I've officially got the writing bug again, look for new stories to come soon!**_


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